Lucy's Quest
by CharmedMoon84
Summary: Having only been raised by her mom, Lucy sets out to meet her birth father, only to find out from his childhood friend that he had passed away without ever knowing of Wendy's pregnancy
1. Prologue

Eighteen year old Wendy stood outside her boyfriend's ground floor apartment and took a deep breath before she opened the door after using the key he'd given her. She entered the apartment and approached his bedroom, mentally trying to come up with the best way to announce her thrilling news to him. Standing outside his closed bedroom door, she slowly opened the door, only to find him lying in his bed. Beside him lay a red haired girl with the sheets pulled up over her bare chest. He blinked, startled by his girlfriend's sudden appearance.

"Who is that girl currently in your bed?" she asked him.

He quickly got out of bed and wrapped the closet thing around his hips.

"Oh, the redhead. She's, um, just a study partner of mine. That's all. I swear."

"Don't lie to me! I caught you being untrue to me, by having another girl lying in your bed. I came here to tell you my good news. Instead, you've repayed my love and loyalty to you by sleeping with someone else!" she shouted while tears filled her eyes.

By now, the redhead had also gotten out of the bed, the bedsheet wrapped around her as she quickly gathered her clothes and headed to the bathroom to get dressed. While she was in the bathroom, Wendy began yelling at her boyfriend.

"How could you do this to me?! I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, because we were destined to be forever lovers. I planned to tell you that something wonderful's taken place. You and I are over for good!" she shrieked as she spun around, yanked open the bedroom door, went through the apartment, opened the apartment door and slammed it behind her as hard as she could.

Out in the hallway, she broke down in sobs while her right hand went to her flat stomach and her thoughts shifted to the life forming inside of her. She had hoped to see the look of delight making its way onto her now ex boyfriend's face once she'd revealed that she was pregnant with his child.

Inside his apartment, Stan rubbed at his eyes, realizing that he'd blown it with his former girlfriend. He heard the bathroom door open behind him and Zoey approached him, now fully clothed.

"Where did she go?" she asked him.

"Zoey, just get out. Please," he said.

She frowned.

"Fine. I hope you're happy with yourself," she replied as she left his apartment.

After Zoey had left, he sat down heavily on his bed and wondered if he'd ever be able to make it up with his now ex girlfriend. But he was unaware that he'd never get the chance to make it up to his ex girlfriend or be able to meet his daughter.


	2. Chapter 1

Two weeks after his now ex girlfriend had discovered him in bed with Zoey, Stan sat opposite his friend at one of their usual restaurants. Seated across the booth from his friend, the redhead met his gaze.

"I messed up big time with my girlfriend, man," he said.

"You did what? What happened?"

"She caught me in bed with Zoey."

"Your study partner?"

"Yeah. I told her that Zoey was my study partner, but she didn't believe me. I've been sleeping with Zoey behind her back."

The redhead blinked a few times before he frowned.

"So, you basically cheated on your now ex girlfriend without telling her?"

"That about sums it up. I've been sleeping with Zoey for the last few months. It was alright the first few times, but then I started feeling guilty as it continued. I don't know if Wendy will talk to me again, dude."

There was a pause between the two teenage boys.

"What will you do if Zoey winds up pregnant, dude?" the redhead questioned.

"I don't know, man. I don't want to think about that right now," Stan replied before he coughed into his napkin.

"You ok?"

"I'm not sure. I've been feeling poorly ever since I slept with Zoey a couple of weeks ago."

"That was around the time your girlfriend caught you in bed with Zoey, right?"

"Yeah."

"Go visit the doctor, dude. Find out what's wrong with you."

"I'll do that in the next few days," he replied before he was overcome with a second bout of coughing.

Watching his best friend since childhood cough harshly into his napkin a few times, the redhead felt a sliver of worry for him shoot through his body. He had no idea that he'd be saying his good-byes in the next couple of months.


	3. Chapter 2

A week after his friend's urging, Stan sat on the exam table as he waited for the doctor to return and tell him why he was feeling so poorly. Finally, the door of the exam room opened and the doctor entered the room. Stan looked at him.

What's wrong with me, doctor?" he asked.

"Before I tell you, I have to ask you if you've been sleeping with anyone other then your former girlfriend within the last few months."

"Yeah. I've been sleeping with my study partner, Zoey, for the last few months."

"I see. Were you aware that she had a disease given to her by her former boyfriend which she's now passed along to you?"

"No. I didn't know that, doctor. What sort of disease?"

"It's one that can only be transmitted through sexual activities. Given that you've been sleeping with Zoey off and on the last few months, you've been sick with this disease for roughly five months now. I'm very sorry, but you've got less then three months left to live. I'd advise you to prepare your good-byes to your family and friends."

He just sat there in shock, not quite sure how to handle the doctor's news.

"Are you saying I've only got a couple months left to live, doctor?"

"Yes. Given that it was caught at this late stage means that it's gone past the cure portion of treatment. There's nothing more I can do to help you."

The doctor left the exam room. Once he had, Stan hurriedly dressed and also left the exam room. He left the doctor's office and called his friend's cell phone. After four or five rings, his friend answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"It's me, dude. I just left the doctor's. Could the two of us meet at our normal restaurant in say, half an hour. I've got some not so great news for you."

"Sure. What's going on? Can't you just tell me over the phone?"

"It's news that I'd rather tell you in person. Just meet me at our hangout restaurant."

"Ok, ok. I'll be there in a half hour," the redhead replied before he ended the call.

Line break

Thirty minutes later, the two teenage boys met up at one of their usual favorite restaurants. They sat across from each other.

"I went to the doctor like you suggested. He, uh, first asked me if I'd slept with anyone beside my ex girlfriend and I told him I'd been sleeping with Zoey. He then told me that she'd passed a disease to me, one that she'd contracted from a boyfriend she'd had prior to meeting me. The disease progressed too far. The doctor's only given me a couple of months left to live because of it."

"Wait. You're dying?"

"I guess so, when you put it that way."

"Why did you ever sleep with Zoey?! It's because of her that I'm about to lose my best friend! I refuse to do nothing while being forced to watch you die!"

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do to change the fact that Zoey gave me the same disease her boyfriend gave her."

The redhead slid out of his side of the booth and stood up as he prepared to walk out of the restaurant.

"Dude, wait."

The redhead paused at his friend's voice.

"I'll always be there for you, because you're my best friend, but please don't expect me to say my good-byes," he replied before he left the restaurant.


	4. Chapter 3

Seated in front of his desk, Stan looked at the blank piece of paper lying in front of him. He reached for a pen and briefly wondered how to phrase the contents of his letter so his ex girlfriend could understand his actions with Zoey, who he'd ended breaking up with only a half hour ago. He just started to write.

_'Dear Wendy:_

_The instant this letter shows up in your mailbox, where ever you're at, it'll be because something's happened to me. I'm entrusting this letter to my friend in the hopes that he'll be able to find you and deliver this letter to you. I'm writing this letter to you in the hope you'll be able to forgive me for my cheating on you with Zoey. _

_I've contracted a fatal disease from Zoey, which means I'm slowly dying. I've got less then five weeks to live, so I'm attempting to write this letter before those five weeks are up._

_I truly never intended to hurt you in any way. It's my desire that you'll find it in you to move on with your life and that you won't forget me. If you're unable to forgive me for the fact that I cheated on you with Zoey, then I'll understand. I'm truly sorry for all the pain I've caused you, as well as for the fact that I won't be able to settle down with you or start a family together.'_

_Your ex boyfriend_


	5. Chapter 4

The low but steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound in the hospital room. Presently seated in the chair beside his friend's hospital bed, eighteen year old Kyle just looked at the unmoving form in the bed, whose eyes were closed, but the gentle rise and fall of his friend's chest assured the redhead that his friend was still alive, but he wasn't certain just how much longer that would last. Just then, the figure in the hospital bed stirred and opened his eyes, only to notice his friend seated in the chair next to his bed and managed to give him a slight smile.

"Hey, dude," he said weakly.

"Hey, yourself."

Silence again fell between the two teenage boys as Stan shifted position in the bed a little, only to wince in mild discomfort from the brief movement. He knew he was dying and he'd made peace with that fact, but his friend refused to accept that. Their gazes met and held.

"You know as well as I do that my time here is growing short. Before I go, I want you to promise me that you'll do all you can to find my ex girlfriend and give her that," he said as his gaze shifted to the envelope currently lying on the counter of the hospital room.

The redhead shook his head, anger filling his eyes.

"No. I won't do that, because you'll get better and get yourself out of the hospital."

"I'm not getting better, dude. You know that, but you're only denying what's unavoidable for me. I want you to locate Wendy for me, since I won't be able to do that myself. Promise me you will, please?"

Tears coursed down the redhead's face as he promised his dying friend that he'd do what he was asked to do. The slow and steady beep of the heart monitor was replaced by the loud hum that indicated there was no longer a heart beat and the redhead knew his friend was truly gone.

He stood up from the chair, leaned over his friend and gently closed his eyes before he turned and walked over to the counter. He picked up the slim envelope containing his friend's letter and knew what to do about the envelope, but not how to find his friend's ex girlfriend. He didn't even know if she was still in the area. He turned back to his now deceased friend before he left the room.


	6. Chapter 5

Kyle stood in front of his friend's newly erected grave marker as he waited for Zoey to join him. He'd called her just prior to entering the cemetery and asked her to meet with him. Presently, the sounds of footfalls and her voice asking his name alerted him to the fact that she stood behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Do I look like I'm ok, Zoey? You slept with my best friend, despite the fact that he had a girlfriend and gave him an uncurable disease, which he's now died of. So no, I'm nowhere near being ok, Zoey!" he yelled as he motioned towards the headstone.

Zoey blinked before her gaze drifted across the name and dates of birth and death that were carved into the marble surface of the headstone.

"It should have been you in that coffin, not my best friend, Zoey! It's your fault that he's dead!"

He turned and strode away from the grave, followed by Zoey.

"Wait!"

He stopped at her shout, but didn't face her.

"I saw him as a friend too. If I could take it back, I would."

"He wasn't your friend, Zoey. Don't ever think that again. You were only his study partner. You were just a short time fling for him, that's all," the redhead said as he walked away from the cemetery.


	7. Chapter 6

Slowly opening her eyes,Wendy stared up at the ceiling of her apartment. She'd only been living at her new apartment for a couple of months, ever since she'd moved away from her hometown. Her hands moved to her still flat stomach. No one knew where she'd moved to, which was something that she preferred. She couldn't bring herself to quite forgive her ex boyfriend for his cheating. But she had no idea that she'd never get the chance to hear his apology. She got out of bed and headed down the hall to her kitchen.

Now that she was two months along, she turned to tea to help wake her in the morning rather then coffee. She stood at the kitchen sink and looked out the window at the rising sun, her steaming cup of tea on the counter in front of her. Her thoughts drifted to her ex boyfriend, but she had no idea that her ex boyriend's best friend was looking for her, just to give her an envelope that was intended for her.

She'd moved as far as she could from her home state and the painful memory of seeing her former boyfriend lying in bed with another girl. She picked up her slightly cooled cup of tea and took a seat at the kitchen table.

_'I hope my ex boyfriend is happy with that other girl,'_ she found herself thinking.

Line break

Back in her former home state, a lone figure stood in front of the headstone that marked the location of a fairly recent grave. Staring at the words etched into the marble surface of the headstone, the redheaded figure had begun the search for his deceased best friend's ex girlfriend, but he wasn't having the best luck so far in locating her. He'd been able to find out that she'd moved out of state, but the trail went cold after that, because she hadn't told anyone where she'd moved to. His left hand slid into his coat pocket and felt the slim envelope beneath his fingers.


	8. Chapter 7

Looking out her apartment window at the desert, Wendy found herself wondering if she'd made the right choice in moving out of her snowy home state to the hot and steamy desert, but then realized she had, because she'd gotten as far as she could from her cheating ex boyfriend. She had no idea that his best friend was close to locating her. She'd moved here to the desert three months ago and had been able to find a job soon after her arrival. Her present job was close to her apartment, so she could walk there if she felt like it, but chose to drive the short distance for the sake of her unborn child and avoid the heat at the same time. Her left hand dirfted to her flat stomach and thought about what to name her unborn daughter.

_'Whatever name I choose for my baby, I want it to be at least four letters long,' she thought._

Finally, she turned away from the window and headed down the hallway to her bedroom. The part of her that didn't hate her ex boyfriend for sleeping with another girl still loved him, despite three months having gone by.

_'I should tell him that despite his obvious cheating, I still want things to work out between us. He and I should be raising our daughter together. But can I find it in me to forgive him? I guess I have to, for our daughter's sake,' _ she thought.


	9. Chapter 8

Seated across the resturant booth from his deceased best friend's pregnant ex girlfriend, the redhead met her gaze. It'd taken him an extra couple of months to finally locate her present location. They remained silent for a few minutes before he decided to reveal the reason he'd set out to find her.

"I made a promise to your ex boyfriend that I'd do all I could to find you and give you the letter you now hold in your hands. It was his dying wish that you recieve his letter, Despite his slip up with Zoey, he still loved you."

Wendy blinked a few times before her gaze drifted to the letter she still hadn't opened. Her gaze returned to him.

"He slept with her. How can you expect me to forgive him? I'm four months pregnant with his child. Why couldn't he have told me this himself?"

"He wanted to, but then he got sick from a disease Zoey had passed to him during the five months they slept together. He died from it four months ago, which was after you'd already moved away."

"My ex boyfriend's dead?"

The redhed nodded.

"You deserved to know the reason why he never tried to find you."

"All these months, he still loved me, despite Zoey?"

"He did. He made a mistake with Zoey, one he came to regret. If it hadn't been for Zoey, he'd be sitting here instead of me."


End file.
